Just when Zuo Si's avatar in Mirrodin got Melilai and began to use its innate ability to attack the essence of the shining oil, the commercial powerhouse Sambia in the "Sea of ​​Fallen Stars" in the center of Faerûn continent.
, a food war without gunpowder has begun quietly.
Sergant is an important trade node and port city that stands in the northwest of the Sea of ​​Fallen Stars and has a permanent population of tens of thousands.
Although it is not the capital of Sambia, it is the richest and most powerful in the country, and it is also the place where the power struggle among big businessmen is fiercest.
The reason why the Six-member Council of Amn chose this place to dump food was because they recognized the complexity of the commercial and political factions within Sergante.
As long as there are enough benefits, the city's arrogant ruling class does not care about the life and death of other parts of Sambia, especially those "country bumpkins" who make a living from land and planting.
Although they have the most fertile land and the largest irrigated area in the country, sitting on the Aken River, only a small part of it grows food.
Most of the rest are cash crops, such as cotton, flax, rapeseed, sesame, olives and other things used for spinning and oil extraction.
In addition, the convenient transportation network is also one of the reasons for being selected.
After all, to the west of Sergante are the two cities of Darren and Uraspil, which are adjacent to Cormyr, which may be the most powerful feudal country in Faerûn.
Sambian merchants purchased large tracts of connected land here, owned countless manors, vineyards, orchards and hunting grounds, and even maintained private armies, secretly retaining the notorious and most important slavery
One of the grain producing areas.
If grain prices in Sergante are suppressed by dumping, this area will be the first to be affected and respond quickly.
The northeast direction of Sergante is connected to Odulin, the capital of Sambia located inland.
This is the most densely populated area in the country. It cannot be self-sufficient in food and has long relied on transportation from the southwest.
As we all know, the cost of long-distance transportation on land will definitely not be low, so the price of food around Odulin has always remained high.
If food prices in Sergante plummet, then the first reaction of Sambia's supreme rulers will definitely not be vigilance, but uncontrollable ecstasy.
This means that they only need to spend a small amount of money to feed the large population in the core ruling area.
Anyway, after those manor owners realized that growing food was not profitable, they would immediately switch to growing other high value-added crops such as sugar cane and sugar beet.
As for the life and death of ordinary farmers, these guys don't care.
It’s better to be broke!
You can also take the opportunity to purchase their land at a low price and sell their entire family into slavery to obtain cheaper labor.
If it doesn't work, you can still sell it to a merchant or a red-robed wizard in Ser as a slave.
If someone asks what the difference is between the business empires of Amn and Sembia, it is that the former has at least a little bit of shame, and will decorate its appearance through various charitable donations, allowing paladin organizations such as the Knights of the Burning Heart to enforce law and maintain the territory.
The so-called "justice".
But the latter didn't even bother to cover up. The major business tycoons and the families behind them were completely above the law and basically said the same thing in their own territory.
And although slavery is prohibited by law, in fact slavery is everywhere.
Especially the peasants working in the manor, almost 50% or more are serfs without personal freedom, and even life and death are in the hands of the master.
Those in power also collude with the dark elves operating in the Cormanthor region in the north, and often make deals with evil forces such as red robe wizards and Zhentil Castle. The Harper Alliance has long regarded Sembia as the same as Cyre.
Threat.
However, Bernard doesn't care at all how miserable the lives of the people at the bottom of Sambia are.
He came this time with a mission assigned by the six-member council, to destroy Sambia, a powerful competitor, in one fell swoop through legal business activities, and to ensure Amn's undisputed dominance in the trade activities of Faerûn.<
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And this ambitious businessman also understands that such an important action is also a test in itself.
If you can successfully complete this series of operations, you will be treated like a hero when you return to Ascatla, and you may even be able to enter the candidate list of the six-person council with this merit.
Many families are eager to be the person in charge of this operation.
The reason why he stood out was not because of his superior strength, but because he had an extremely powerful backer behind him, who also provided the most important food for this operation, Zuo Si.
Thinking of this, Bernard couldn't help but secretly rejoice that he had made the right choice. Then he raised his head and asked the assistant who was sorting out the information: "How much food have we dumped at low prices? What is the price of food in Sergante today?"
How much?"
"170,000 tons, we have dumped 170,000 tons of various grains.
According to the information provided by the Shadow Thieves Guild, all the granaries in the towns surrounding Sergante have been filled.
As for grain prices, they have dropped to only one-fifth of the original normal price, which is far lower than the cost of planting.
Almost all estates and farmers who grow food are worried about how to quickly sell the food in their hands to recover the cost.
After all, as the granaries in the surrounding areas are full, they have no place to store them, so it will definitely be too late to build the existing granaries.
In addition, as the weather begins to turn colder, the Falling Star Sea area will soon experience frequent autumn rains.
If it is not processed before the rainy season arrives, all the food stacked outdoors will be wetted by the rain and become moldy and rotten.
Therefore, it is foreseeable that these people will eventually reluctantly sell the grain in their hands at a price far lower than the cost, further triggering panic selling until grain prices completely fall to the bottom.
By this time next year, all landowners will no longer choose to grow food."
Another Amn businessman, about forty years old, reported excitedly.
Because through these days of operations and dumping, he can basically be sure that Sambia is 100% doomed this time.
After several rounds of large-scale dumping, the confidence of agricultural production groups in the surrounding areas of Sergante has been completely destroyed.
And with the subsequent panic selling, it will quickly spread to other places and even the Kingdom of Cormyr and other cities in the Sea of ​​Fallen Stars.
After learning this heart-wrenching lesson, no manor or farmer in Sambia will take the risk of growing food again.
This means that when we can no longer temporarily switch to growing grain in March or April next year, we can start to close the net and change from low-price dumping to high-price purchase.
At the beginning, raising the purchase price of grain would even make the Sambian business class and rulers, whose barns were full, smile. They thought they had taken the opportunity to make a huge profit from the price difference, and sold it unscrupulously.
Since Sambia was originally a country united by merchant oligarchs, the major cities basically maintained their autonomy, and it was impossible to have a modern national statistical system. Therefore, they did not know that there was no land to grow food in the country, and they thought they would wait until the autumn harvest.
This gap can be filled back in time.
The result is that after the grain in the warehouse is almost sold, it is discovered that there is not even a grain of grain in the country for the autumn harvest.
By then, there will be no need for Amn to take action. The local selfish businessmen in Sambia will start hoarding on their own and continue to raise food prices to harvest the wealth of the people at the bottom.
When people can no longer survive, a terrible riot will completely break out.
At this moment, it has become impossible for the rulers to purchase food from other neighboring countries to quell the civil strife.
After all, other countries are not fools.
With Sambia as a negative teaching material in front of us, we will naturally be more vigilant and prioritize protecting our own food reserves.
What's more, there are millions of people in Sambia, and food consumption cannot be satisfied by the food surplus of one or two regions or even the country.
Coupled with the negative impact of previous low-price dumping, the grain production around Falling Star Sea will definitely be reduced to varying degrees.
This means that for at least a year, Sambia will not be able to obtain sufficient food supply, and can only watch the people at the bottom who cannot survive rise up, and the entire country will inevitably fall into division and civil war.
"Only 170,000 tons? Too little! Keep adding more! At least 600,000 tons of grain will be dumped in the next two months."
Bernard narrowed his eyes and quickly gave instructions.
In his view, a mere 170,000 tons of grain surplus is not enough to have a devastating impact on Sambia's agriculture.
The assistant nodded vigorously: "Understood! I will arrange for people to disguise themselves as merchants from Sere as soon as possible, and continuously transport more food to major port cities. Anyway, we have that treasure, and we only need to leave the port and wander along the coast.
With just one turn, the empty warehouse can be filled up."
"Let our people be careful and remember to change the sails, marks and sailors every time they leave port, so as not to be discovered." Bernard warned with a serious expression.
"Please rest assured about this. The Masked Mage Guild has provided us with enough magic masks. As long as you put them on, you can immediately turn into another face. So far, no one has been suspected." The assistant vowed.
Give a guarantee.
After all, this is also an important action that has attracted the attention of the six-person council. All forces in Amn have provided help to the best of their ability, whether in terms of materials or manpower.
After hearing these words, Bernard finally showed a satisfied expression: "Very good. This is a very important opportunity for me, and the same for you. So I don't want anything to go wrong, you know? That's right.
, where is the servant Uthiah sent by Lord Soth?"
"He? He seems to have been frequently attending dinner parties held by high society recently, and has even become a guest of Andas Igamal."
After thinking for a while, the assistant quickly told what he knew.
"Have you already blended into the upper class? As expected..."
To be continued...